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Expressing the Why of the Dashboard

Posted By DashboardWire / 13th June 2010

I would first like to thank Hubert aka the Dashboard Spy for providing the opportunity to blog! 
A fellow dashboard designer asked me to reprint this article. He’s asking if anyone can add to this explanation of a business dashboard and the explanation of the dashboard metaphor

So what’s behind the dashboard?  Is it really like a auto dashboard?

Why do you need a dashboard? What are you measuring? Why are you measuring it? Why is it important? Is it really important or just nice to know? Now that you have this information, what are you going to do with it? Will this information change how we make decisions? If we had this information X month’s ago, would we be somewhere different today?  I.e. would it have caused a change in prior behavior that would have led us down a different path?  Does another “dial” on the dashboard tell me the same thing in a different way?  Do I need to know this information every day/week/month/year? What is the relevant timeframe to provide the information? I STRONGLY encourage everyone to ask these questions of their dashboards. Write out the answers. REALLY, write them out. Take the time and you will gain new insight that you may not have had before, and may eliminate some extra stuff on you dashboard. 

The Tach.

Here is a real world example of what I mean (with a real dashboard). My car has an automatic transmission. It also has a tachometer on the dashboard. Why? What does knowing engine speed tell me, other than how fast the engine is running and that it is running? Nothing. It is just extra stuff to fill up my head as I drive down the road. If the engine quit running, all the other dash lights would come on and tell me the engine was stopped, my speed would be dropping, etc. If I know engine speed that’s ok, but I cannot do anything about it other than step on the gas or brake (as opposed to a car with a manual transmission where I need to know engine speed to optimize gear changing for either fuel economy or performance). It really is useless to know since I can get the same information elsewhere. I watch the tach go up and down and I can tell that the car shifted gears since I can feel it usually. But again, why do I care, I don’t care what gear I am in since I bought an automatic transmission. It takes care of that for me.

The Temp.

I like having the outside temperature gauge on my car so I know how hot or cold it is outside. But didn’t I know that before I got in the car (other than long road trips where you might really have a large temperature change). Again, WHY do I need to know that? Is in nice to know? Probably, but can I do anything about the outside temperature? Can I make it hotter or cooler?  Now what if the temperature has dropped below freezing on a trip? Then I really need to know so that I can be more alert for icy patches of road.  Now it is something I NEED to know. But only during certain conditions. So there is value to it, but not all the time.

So What?

I hope these two examples will get everyone to think about why they are putting information on a dashboard and how frequently that information needs to be presented. Sure there are a lot of things that are nice to know, but don’t we all have too much information coming at us from all directions?  Let’s try to make our dashboards really stand out by having just what we need on them to really manage a company/division/department/process/etc.  Just because you can put something on a dashboard does not mean that you should. Think of networking your toaster in your kitchen. You can put it on your home network but WHY? 

Thank you for your time reading this. I would like any feedback or your thoughts.

Paul

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The Night Panel

Posted By DashboardWire / 11th March 2010

In my prior post, I discussed the fact that my car has a tach but an automatic transmission and the relative uselessness of the tach.  But my car, a Saab, does have a redeeming feature that is a GREAT dashboard example!  The Night Panel button. This does not exist on any other car manufactured and is derived from the history of Saab making aircraft.

The Night Panel

While driving in the dark, all the instruments glow brightly unless you turn down the dash lights. But that sometimes dims the information you need to see so it is somewhat of an all or nothing proposition.  Enter Saab with the Night Panel button.  When you push the night panel button all the dash and control lights are dimmed enough so you can see where they are and what they are, or they are turned off completely.  What you end up with is just the speedometer lit and nothing else.  That pesky tach is turned off, the gas gauge, turbo boost gauge, and the temperature gauge.  The info display showing date, time, radio controls, heater controls are all turned off completely.  Now you see just what you NEED to see RIGHT NOW.  Not the nice to know information, just the critical needed information.  So the speedometer is lit up, but only partially.  What, partially? It only lights to about 90 mph.  Probably not going to be going over 90 in the dark so it is turned off.  However, if you go over about 83 mph, then the rest of the speedometer lights up so you see it.

What Happens Next Will Amaze You!

So what happens next?  What if I need to see something else?  Good question. If you are getting low on fuel, then the fuel light comes on just below a quarter tank.  Now you are informed about something that you need to know when you need to know it.  You didn’t care before, but now you do and the dash lets you know right away. It gives you adequate time to find more fuel BEFORE the car runs out of gas. How about all the other controls, what happens with them? If you change the radio station, the controls light up for several seconds to show the new selection and then dim again. Same with the heater controls.  So you make an adjustment and it shows your actions. If all systems are still good within parameters, then the lights dim again.  Now that is a great example of a dashboard! Brilliantly simple.

How Can I Apply It To My Dashboards?

Keep it simple (have we heard that before somewhere?).  Put a review date on your entire dashboard AND all the individual components. You might need to track something for a few months then the conditions change so you don’t need to follow it anymore.  Let it go. Maybe even document somewhere the dashboard layouts and why they exist.  Track changes and document why it changed. Let new hires look at the dashboard and change document for insight into how your company lives and breathes.   Having worked my way up thru the various levels of accounting and finance at different companies, it is still amazing to see what reports are still being generated with no real reason for their existence anymore.  It was relevant, but not anymore.  Let it go. Be disciplined in your review of the dashboard. It forces you to do a review of what is really important NOW in your company.

Paul

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